Promotion of Hockey (Not in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Kerala, Tamilnadu)

Promotion of Hockey 


The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that promotion and development of sports disciplines including hockey is the primary responsibility of State Governments and the concerned NSFs.
 Government has given recognition to Hockey India (HI) as the NSF for promotion and development of hockey in the country.  As per the International Hockey Federation’s world ranking, the Indian men’s hockey team stands at 9th and the Indian women’s hockey team at 13th position.  The reasons for the declining trend are mainly change of playing surface and frequent changes in rules suited to the European style of hockey which have resulted in change from artistic and skill-based hockey to physical and speed-based hockey

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Shri Sonowal said, Government of India recognizes the importance of the sport of hockey in India, its popularity among the masses and medal prospects of India in various international events, etc. Keeping these factors in view, the Ministry has placed the sport of hockey in the ‘high priority’ category so that it gets maximum admissible amount under the Scheme of Assistance to the National Sports Federations. Government has spent a substantial amount of its budget from the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations on hiring foreign coaches, training/coaching camps, creating infrastructure, etc. Rs.4025.93 lakh was spent on the sport of hockey from the Central Government budget during the last three years, i.e., from 2011-12 to 2014-15 (upto December 2014).

He further said, identification and nurturing of the identified talent from various disciplines including hockey is done under the following Schemes of the Sports Authority of India (SAI):

o   National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC) Scheme
o   Army Boys Sports Companies (ABSC) Scheme
o   SAI Training Center (STC) Scheme
o   Special Area Games (SAG) Scheme
o   Centre of Excellence (CoE) Scheme

Under these schemes, scientific training is imparted to the selected trainees under expert coaches.  The trainees are provided assistance for boarding, lodging, equipment, sports kit, stipend, competition exposure, etc.

The Minister said, the Government also provides assistance to the States under the Scheme of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), {earlier called Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA)} a Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme and Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS).   Under RGKA, assistance of Rs.1.75 crore each is provided for construction of a Sports Complex in every rural block of the country to cater to various sports disciplines including Hockey.    The Scheme of USIS provides for giving grants, inter-alia, for creation of sports infrastructure projects which includes hockey turfs.  Under the scheme, State Governments, local civic bodies, Schools, Colleges, Universities and Sports Control Boards are eligible for such assistance.

The Government has also recognised Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society as NSF for promotion of hockey among school children.  Financial assistance, at par with the NSFs, is given to the Society for organising National Championships at the School level. 

To promote hockey, permission to hold Hockey League has been given with the objective of giving exposure to Indian players to play with foreign players. More and more international exposure is being given to the players of sub junior and junior categories so that they can be at par with the international players. Government has also decided to set up national level Sports Academies for major games in different parts of the country to mainstream sports, preferably through the PPP route, Shri Sonowal added.

Government has funded 25 astroturf grounds across the country, the details of which are given as under: 

S.No.	Name of the State	Number of astroturf grounds
1	Punjab	4
2	Himachal Pradesh	1
3	Haryana	1
4	Uttar Pradesh	3
5	Madhya Pradesh	2
6	Gujarat	1
7	Maharashtra	1
8	Karnataka	3
9	West Bengal	1
10	Odisha	2
11	Assam	1
12	Manipur	1
13	Mizoram	1
14	New Delhi	3
	Total	25